


Royal Milk Tea

by doylesmom



Series: Gift Fics [3]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Gen, Gift Fic, Modern AU, Zombie AU, short fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:35:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21864586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doylesmom/pseuds/doylesmom
Summary: A moment’s restZombie AUFor Andi
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/My Unit | Byleth
Series: Gift Fics [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1554103
Comments: 5
Kudos: 39





	Royal Milk Tea

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to Andi as part of the Garreg Mach discord server secret santa exchange.
> 
> Robin- you da best

Cold, canned ravioli was probably the worst part of the whole apocalypse thing, in Byleth’s opinion. True, there was a lot of bad stuff that went with the manmade end of the world- most of your friends and family dead, the complete and total collapse of society, acid rain, zombies, no more Netflix. But really, the cold canned food was the worst.

“This is disgusting; why can’t we have a fire tonight?” Sylvain asked as he poked at his can of vegetable soup. Felix snorted from across the room, double checking the wire traps that they had set up.

“The King said no,” he said bitterly, derision evident in his voice as he spoke of the man who was once his friend.

“Please, Felix, don’t start that tonight,” Annette sighed from where she was curled up into Mercedes’ side. She looked tired, downtrodden. They all did. Only Byleth, stony faced as ever, didn’t show the strain of the past five years of hell. Although having gone into a coma just days after the first mutation appeared may have had something to do with that.

Waking up to a world in crisis a la Rick Grimes hadn’t been a walk in the park, though, but that was a story for another time.

“Where is he, anyways?” Ashe asked from his watch post, crossbow in his hands and guns strapped to his thighs. They all had guns, at least one fully loaded at all times. Not for use unless as a last resort. Too noisy, could attract others, mutants and zombies or otherwise. It was one of their group rules.

“Supply run with Ingrid and Dedue,” Byleth responded, trying not to sound too put out over the fact that she had been ordered to stay back. Unfortunately for her, her former students knew her entirely too well for that.

“How is your knee holding up?” Mercedes asked, her nurse’s training kicking in at the reminder of the reason they were stuck in stasis in the first place, delayed on their journey to the 180 acre Blaidydd ranch that would be their safe haven from mutants, zombies, roving gangs.

“Hurts.” Byleth muttered, her knee throbbing as she spoke, the injury to it roaring back into focus as though summoned by the conversation.

“I have-”

“No drugs,” Byleth said, shoving more ravioli in her mouth so she wouldn’t have to look at the pitying looks the other were shooting her. They didn’t mean it, she knew they didn’t, but she couldn’t help but notice the looks that passed across their faces every time her coma and the circumstances surrounding it were brought up. Only Dimitri didn’t act that way, react that way.

She hoped he’d be back soon.

\---

The moon was high before the group returned, their bags filled with- oh, joy- more canned food. Only Byleth and Ashe were still awake, the others having gone down for a nap as they awaited the return of their leader. Ingrid and Dedue waved a greeting to Byleth before going to join the rest of their former classmates. Byleth watched as her former students shuffled around, making room under the pile of blankets and jackets.

“Get anything good?” she asked Dimitri as he set the bags down, softly despite his strength and brusque attitude. He looked around, taking note of who was still awake, before reaching into one of the bags and tossing her a can. She caught it.

Canned peaches. Her favorite.

The sight of it brought a small smile to her face as she reached for the can opener, but she stretched too far, jostling her knee and making her gasp from the sudden pain. Before she could even finish her gasp, Dimitri was crouched beside her, pushing her back into her seated position against the wall. He gave her a sour look, reaching for the can opener himself and handing it to her.

“You need to be more careful,” he told her as she opened the peaches. Byleth patted the ground next to her, and Dimitri sat, tense and still as she speared a peach on her fork and offered it to him.

He shook his head, turning his face away from her, the tips of his ears going red. She wondered if it was from the cold- winter was fast approaching. She leaned against him, hoping that the contact would help warm him up faster. He jumped slightly, but he didn’t pull away. She wanted to curl in closer to him, like the others did with each other, but tonight was not the night to push. So instead she sat next to him silence, eating her peaches and picking at the fraying edge of her jacket sleeve.

Soon, the can was empty, and Byleth began to drowse. Dimitri had not yet pulled away from her, gone off to take over watch or hide in the shadows as he preferred these days. It was a small victory, but one she cherished nonetheless. Slowly, slowly, he was regaining himself. He was not the man she had known before- before Edelgard, before the Slither virus wiped out 90% of humanity and morphed their remains into the horrors that now walked the earth, before the experiment that should have killed her but didn’t- but he was growing. Changing. Becoming someone she could trust again, lead with, watch her back in a fight.

Maybe even someone she could love again.

But for now, as she drifted off to sleep as the sun began to peek over the horizon, she enjoyed the moment, dreaming of peaches and a real bed and Dimitri sweetly kissing the crown of her head.

Maybe one day he’d do that when she was awake.


End file.
